Page 6 - United Nations

Global plastic treaty talks collapse as hardline stances stall progress

During the most recent set of talks, the US aligned itself with this second group, saying it opposed any restrictions on business and commerce

UN chief warns Israel, Russia over alleged sexual violence by armed forces

In his annual report to the UN Security Council, Guterres warned that Israel and Russia could be listed next year for alleged patterns of rape and sexual violence in conflict zones

Pilot union objects to the government's call for a global code of conduct

A booming aviation market is seen as key to supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aviation goals, but India is short of experienced pilots

Australia to recognise Palestinian state; joins France, Britain, Canada

Australia will recognise a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada in signalling they would do so. His remarks followed weeks of urging from within his Cabinet and from many in Australia to recognise a Palestinian state and amid growing criticism from officials in his government over suffering in Gaza, which Albanese on Monday referred to as a humanitarian catastrophe. Australia's government has also criticised plans announced in recent days by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu for a sweeping new military offensive in Gaza. Albanese told reporters after a Cabinet meeting Monday that Australia's decision to recognise a Palestinian state will be formalised at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The acknowledgement was predicated on commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority, Albanese said. Those commitments included no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government, ...

Israel plans to destroy Hamas and take over all of Gaza, says Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that to destroy Hamas Israel intends to take full control of the Gaza Strip and eventually transfer its administration to friendly Arab forces, as the Security Cabinet discussed a widening of its 22-month offensive. Asked in an interview with Fox News if Israel would take control of all of Gaza, Netanyahu replied: We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza. The Security Cabinet would still need to approve such a decision. We don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter, Netanyahu said in the interview. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. An Israeli official had earlier said the Security Cabinet would hold a lengthy debate and approve an expanded military plan to conquer all or parts of Gaza not yet under Israeli control. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity ...

Statehood for Palestine? The legal test, the war, and the global shift

Global calls for Palestinian statehood rise, but legal, political, and diplomatic roadblocks remain complex and contested

IS, al-Qaeda threat intense in Africa, with growing risks in Syria: UN

The threat from Islamic State and al-Qaeda extremists and their affiliates is most intense in parts of Africa, and risks are growing in Syria, which both groups view as a strategic base for external operations, UN experts said in a new report. Their report to the UN Security Council circulated Wednesday said West Africa's al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin group, known as JNIM, and East Africa's al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab have continued to increase the territory under their control. The experts monitoring sanctions against the two groups said the organisation's pivot towards parts of Africa continued" partly because of Islamic State losses in the Middle East due to counterterrorism pressures. There are also increasing concerns about foreign terrorist fighters returning to Central Asia and Afghanistan, aiming to undermine regional security, they said. The Islamic State also continues to represent the most significant threat to Europe and the Americas, the experts said

In a first, UNSC report names TRF as group behind Pahalgam terror attack

UNSC report links TRF to Lashkar-e-Taiba, endorses India's counter-terror efforts despite Pakistan's opposition

India reiterates support at UN for two-state solution to Israel conflict

India told a high-level UN conference that global efforts must now focus on achieving a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict through "purposeful dialogue and diplomacy". It also said that one should not be content with paper solutions but strive to achieve practical ones. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said on Tuesday that deliberations during the preparation for the UN High-Level International Conference on The Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution' confirm that the international community continues to believe there is no substitute for a two-state solution. He said the conference offers an opportunity to reflect on the path traversed so far in the journey towards achieving peace through a two-state solution. Our efforts must now focus on how to bring about a two-state solution through purposeful dialogue and diplomacy, and bringing the parties to the conflict to

What to expect at UN meeting on Israel-Palestinian two-state solution?

The UN General Assembly is bringing high-level officials together this week to promote a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict that would place their peoples side by side, living in peace in independent nations. Israel and its close ally the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, which starts Monday and will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia. Israel's right-wing government opposes a two-state solution, and the United States has called the meeting counterproductive to its efforts to end the war in Gaza. France and Saudi Arabia want the meeting to put a spotlight on the two-state solution, which they view as the only viable road map to peace, and to start addressing the steps to get there. The meeting was postponed from late June and downgraded from a four-day meeting of world leaders amid surging tensions in the Middle East, including Israel's 12-day war against Iran and the war in Gaza. It was absolutely necessa

New York to Tokyo: Japan proposes capital for UN office relocation

Tokyo Governor Koike pitches relocation of UN offices to Japan, citing safety, affordability, and the US retreat from WHO, Unesco under President Donald Trump

Cambodia seeks ceasefire with Thailand after clashes: All that happened

Malaysia, holding the rotating chair of Asean, offered to mediate as PM Anwar said both sides agreed in principle to withdraw troops and enforce a ceasefire, though implementation may take time

Over 1.1 million Afghans deported from Iran, UN rushes aid amid crisis

In response to the worsening crisis, Tom Fletcher, the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to assist returnees from Iran

Iran agrees to visit by team from UN nuclear watchdog in coming weeks

The delegation will come to Iran to discuss the modality, not to go to the (nuclear) sites, said Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister

US to leave UN's cultural body UNESCO again, citing bias against Israel

The US will leave UNESCO again by end-2026, citing "anti-Israel bias," just two years after rejoining under Biden, marking its third exit and second under a Trump administration

World needs willing allies to counter adverse impact of US actions

A major area of success that was important for speeding up development in the post-World War II era was the trade agreement among nations

Weeks before terror designation, India sent TRF dossier to US and UN teams

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri submitted a dossier on The Resistance Front - which claimed to have executed the Pahalgam massacre - to the US and the UN weeks after the attack

Unaccountability for crimes against UN troops hampers peace efforts: India

India has underscored the urgent need for accountability in crimes against UN peacekeepers, asserting that impunity emboldens perpetrators and undermines global peace efforts. "United Nations peacekeepers face tremendous obstacles while working in increasingly dangerous areas. But for the most part, these crimes continue to go unpunished, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador P Harish, said on Tuesday. This lack of accountability severely undermines international peace efforts by giving assailants more confidence, he said. Harish was addressing a high-level meeting of the Group of Friends (GoF) to Promote Accountability for Crimes Against Peacekeepers. The GoF for Accountability of Crimes against Peacekeepers is co-chaired by India and other leading nations. Accountability is a strategic necessity... Ensuring responsibility for crimes against UN personnel is essential to the integrity and efficacy of international peacekeeping efforts, he ...

France, UK, Germany likely to restore UN sanctions on Iran next month

The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough UN sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said on Tuesday. The three countries' ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany's UN Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call on Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two US officials. The State Department said after the call that the four had spoken about ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon. The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The UK, France and Germany are part of an agreement reached with Iran in 2015 to rein in its nuclear programme, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the US during his first term, insisting it wasn't tough enough. Under the acco

Accountability for crimes against UN Peacekeepers a necessity: India at UN

Speaking at a Gof meeting held at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, India's permanant representative to the UN - P Harish highlighted the 'tremendous obstacle' faced by UN peacekeepers